


Everything's Bigger

by HMS_Chill



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gun Violence, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, I promise it'll be okay, M/M, So uh... there's some angst here, but it's okay!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21949060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: Everything's bigger in Texas: Alex's smiles, pride parades, and gunshot wounds included
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 105
Kudos: 411





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings for mild homophobia, and for gun violence

When Henry steps off the plane, he's met with a wave of heat and a massive hug. He grins, breathing in Alex’s smell and enjoying being back together. When Alex pulls away, his grin stretches from ear to ear. 

"Hello, love. I don't think I've seen you smile like this since we beat the girls at Chicken at the lake house."

"What can I say? It's Texas, baby. Everything's bigger." Henry just rolls his eyes and drags a suitcase toward the van that will take them downtown. They're on a float for Austin pride, and Alex is nearly vibrating with happiness. He loves bringing Henry to Texas no matter what the circumstance, but bringing Henry to Texas for pride feels even more special. They'd had to pull a puppet‘s worth of strings for this to work, but he's here now, and they're together in Alex's hometown, stopping at his childhood home to get ready for the parade. At the house, Henry drops off his bags and unearths a t-shirt covered in photos of queer folks from Sappho to Tesla and beyond, a rainbow "History, huh?" in the middle, and Alex can barely believe they're actually dating. He's got a "Texas Proud" shirt, one with a bi pride Texas in the middle, and he's so excited he can hardly stand still. He's home, and Henry is with him, and they're going to pride. 

Luckily, the energy downtown matches his. When they find their float, the people already there are buzzing, a mess of rainbows and sequins and celebration. Amy and Cash herd them into place, and the parade starts moving, carrying them past block after block of people overjoyed to celebrate who they are. They've got candy to throw and pride flags to wave, and Alex can't imagine anything better than the rainbow Austin lining the streets. 

He's scanning the crowd, trying to smile and wave at everyone he can, when he sees it. He's moving and shouting immediately.

"Amy, green sweatshirt by the killer drag queen. Henry, get down!"

He's diving in front of Henry when he hears the gun go off. Once. Twice. Three times. Pain explodes across his shoulder as they tumble to the base of the float. It's only from two points. The third bullet went somewhere else. 

_Please don't have hit anyone else. Please don't fire into the crowd. Please don't let anyone else be hurt. Please let Amy get to him in time. Please let Henry be alright._

"Alex, Henry. This way." It's Cash, and Alex only has a moment to take stock of how Henry might be doing before they're both army crawling, careful to stay below the edges of the float. Cash hands them both caps, sunglasses, and dark shirts. Alex's shoulder screams as he pulls it over his head, but he doesn't have time to do anything more than wince before he's climbing off the float after Henry and Cash. It's still moving, but it's slow enough that they can climb off relatively easily, and Cash leads the way through the crowd. 

It's chaos on the ground. The few people who see them get off the float seem to realize what's happening and try to hide them, but there are so many other things happening. If Henry wasn't holding his hand like their lives depend on it, Alex isn't sure they'd still be together. He'd probably have lost track of Henry and Cash. People around them are screaming, some trying to get out of the crowd and away. Alex tries his best to see if anyone is hurt, but he can't tell. They're moving too quickly, and the cocktail of panic and pain clouding his brain doesn't make it any easier. Henry is pulling him forward, and though he knows it's for the best, his shoulder hates it. Cash isn't running, but he is going quickly, leading them down back streets and to a dark van. They're all but shoved inside. Cash takes the wheel, and for the first time, Alex can really look at Henry.

"Are you okay? He... he was aiming for you; did he..."

"No; I'm fine. I'm not hurt; you... you protected me. What about you?"

"I'm fine. I'm..." the adrenaline wears off in a moment, leaving Alex with barely enough cognitive energy to gasp, "I'm not fine. Shoulder hurts. Can't... can't think. Head hurts; need... tired." He slumps into Henry's lap, and Henry has to slap a hand over his mouth to hide a scream.

"Cash? Cash, Alex... something's wrong. Alex, can you hear me? It's going to be okay. Oh god, Alex, you're bleeding. Cash, there's so much blood, what do I do?"

Cash swears. "Put pressure on it. We transfer vehicles and pick Amy up in one minute; she's got field medical knowledge."

Henry pulls off his extra shirt, balls it up, and presses it to the growing dark spot on Alex's shoulder as hard as he can. Alex groans. 

"It's okay. It's... it's going... it's all going to be okay, Alex. It... it has to be okay. You're so brave. I love you so much. It's... you... you'll be okay."

The van stops, and Cash opens the door. Together, he and Henry get Alex out of the van. There's no room to lay him down inside the van they're moving to, so they lay Alex on a cot between the vehicles, secret service making a rough ring around them. Henry kneels down beside him while Amy takes over first aid.

"You did great, Henry. You did great. Alex, I'm sorry, but this is probably going to hurt."

"Henry? Where's... is Henry okay?"

"Alex, honey, I'm right here. I'm fine. You saved me," Henry says softly, pressing a kiss to Alex's cheek. He hears fabric tearing, then says, "Amy's getting your shirt off so she can see what's happening. She's going to fix you up; you're going to be okay. You're so brave."

His voice almost doesn't shake that time. Alex's eyes are mostly unfocused, but he seems a bit more relaxed. 

"Do something to keep him quiet; this is going to hurt and he can't scream," Amy orders. She's switched into Navy SEAL mode, and that's somehow more comforting than any other mode could be. Henry presses a kiss to Alex's lips, trying not to think about how cold and clumsy they are as Alex tries to kiss him back. 

He feels the exact moment Amy starts her operation, because Alex's face tenses under his hands, and the sloppy kiss turns into a scream. It tears out of him, so full of pain that it makes Henry want to cry. It's something so big and monstrous that Henry can only imagine that if it were allowed to escape, this scream would echo through his memory forever. More than that, it would echo through the streets forever, joining Sam Houston and the Lady in Red and the rest of Austin's ghosts in haunting the city until it atoned for its crimes.

But what comes next is worse. If Henry hadn't been kissing Alex, he would have heard the scream, but he wouldn't have felt the exact moment Alex goes limp. It happens in a split second. One moment, Alex is alive as anything, screaming in agony while tears run down his face. The next, his whole face has gone slack. Henry pulls away slowly to find glassy eyes and a vacant expression, tears slowly drying on Alex's cheeks. He's paler than he should be, and he's breathing, but it's ragged.

"Amy? Amy, he... he's..." Henry can barely get the words out past the Texas-sized lump in his throat. Maybe everything is bigger here after all.

"He passed out. That's good. Means this isn't hurting him; he won't feel it when I get the second one out."

"The second one?"

"He's got two bullet wounds. One bullet's out; working on the other. Then I'll sew him up, and that'll hurt like hell. It's best for everyone this way."

Henry nods, taking Alex's good hand. "Can... can I shut his eyes?"

"That would probably be best."

He leans forward to close Alex's eyes, pressing a kiss to his cheek and trying to keep it together. There's a hand on his shoulder, and he jumps, but turns to see that Shaan's appeared behind him. He almost cries in relief.

"I came as soon as I could. I'll be driving the second van, and Zahra's going to meet us at the safe house. We'll make sure everything is okay."

Henry just nods again, not trusting himself to speak. Amy drops the second bullet onto the ground next to the first, then says, "If the buckets are down, I can sew on the road."

Cash confirms that the bucket seats are down, leaving them with a flat surface in the back of the van for the cot. He comes to help lift it, and Henry absently picks up the bullets and puts them in a pocket. Alex might want them as a memorial when he wakes up. Shaan gives Henry's shoulder another squeeze, then climbs into the driver's seat while Henry sits on the floor beside Alex's head. He brushes back some of the hair that's fallen into Alex's face and tries not to panic.

"He seems normal. I'm going to start sewing him up; if he wakes up we can't have him scream."

Henry nods, trying not to watch as Amy sinks a needle into Alex's skin. There's not much else to look at, but he can see the sky moving along outside the van windows, so he focuses on that and tries not to panic. It feels like eons later that Amy announces, "I'm done; now it's a waiting game. We'll be at the safe house soon, and we... we can make a plan from there." She lets out a breath with the slightest shake to it, and for her, that feels like the equivalent of Henry's shaking hands and racing mind.

"I... thank you," Henry says. "I don't know what I would have done without you, I... I really don't. You saved his life."

"Not yet. I'm just worried... the guy said he wasn't alone. And it might have just been a stupid empty threat, but until we've looked into it, we... we can't take him to a hospital."

"It's... it'll be okay. They'll have whatever we need at the safe house, right?"

Amy nods, then sits up just enough to look out the window before announcing, "We should be there soon. I don't know how long it'll be, but we'll get word to your family that you're safe." 

"I... I hadn't even thought of them. Bea will be so worried, and June... Will we be able to talk to them? I know it would help Bea, at least, and... and me, if I could just let her know I'm okay from me."

"We'll see what we can do."

Henry nods. There doesn't seem to be much else to do. The van moves on. The clouds outside still pass, and Alex still doesn't move. Henry alternates between brushing the hair out of his face and watching clouds pass, never letting go of his hand and trying desperately to stay calm. He wants to believe Alex is breathing more evenly now, that his skin is less clammy and he's getting better, but he's not sure. He's not sure about anything anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry? Anyway, merry Christmas/happy holidays  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! I'm always taking prompts over there. And if you have research questions about a project you're working on that's great, too; I'm going into a career helping people make historically/scientifically accurate art and it's my favorite thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Henry doesn't process much about the safe house. It's out of the city, and his mind provides the term "ranch style" as they're hustled inside, but all that fades into the background as Cash and Amy carry Alex's cot in and transfer him to a couch in the living room. Henry settles down beside it, taking Alex's good hand in his own again. 

"He looks better. Not as pale," Shaan says, and Henry nods. "I've got to go make a plan with his team, but I'm here if you need me. I'll... I'll make tea."

Shaan is back a few minutes later to set a cup of tea down next to Henry's knee, and Henry thanks him, glancing at the window to see their teams setting up a perimeter outside. Shaan disappears back into the kitchen-turned-security-headquarters, and Henry takes a sip of tea, then turns back to look at Alex. He looks peaceful, and Henry presses a kiss to his forehead before he turns away to take another sip of tea. Everything changes in that one sip. When he turns away, Alex's eyes are closed. When he looks back, they're open. Henry freezes, almost afraid to breathe.

"Alex?" He asks, unable to keep his voice from shaking. 

"Henry. You... are you alright?" And after everything, that's what makes him cry. That question is what makes him take Alex's face in his hands and kiss him, murmuring, "I love you, I love you, I love you" into Alex's mouth. Alex kisses him back, and he's clumsy and Henry's crying, and it's a mess, but Henry can't imagine ever being happier with a kiss. Eventually, Alex pulls away to ask, "You're crying; what's... what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong, not anymore," Henry says. He wants to wipe his eyes, but that means taking his hands off Alex, and he can't quite bring himself to do that right now. Luckily, Alex has a hand free to wipe away a few of the tears before Henry takes it, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "Thank you. You... you saved my life. I love you. I love you so, so, so much."

"I love you. It's okay; you don't need to cry. I'm okay, Baby." He rubs his thumb across Henry's hand, and Henry sniffles a bit before he nods, not trusting himself to speak. He can't seem to stop crying, but he's holding Alex's hand to his cheek, so Alex reaches his thumb out to gently brush away a few of the tears. It's so tender and thoughtful and wonderful that Henry nearly starts crying all over again. He still can't quite believe that he gets to love and be loved by someone like Alex.

"I love you so much," he says softly. "I... I was so scared; I'd never forgive myself if you... I love you."

"I'm okay. I'll be okay, promise," Alex says. He starts to move his right arm, but pure agony crosses his face. He presses his lips closed, but a groan still escapes. 

"Oh no; I... What can I do?" Henry asks, and he could swear Alex almost blushes a bit.

"There's... You've got some hair in your face. If I could have my hand for a second," he extracts his hand from Henry's gently, brushing the offending hair back and cupping Henry's face in his hand. Henry closes his eyes and leans into that hand a bit, just breathing for a second as he finally lets himself start to relax and believe that maybe, just maybe, it'll be alright.

"I love you so much. Don't... don't ever do anything like that again, please."

"Like what? Save your life?" Alex is smiling, just a bit, and Henry lets out a bit of a laugh. Alex's smile grows, and Henry hugs him, careful not to touch his bad shoulder as he buries his face in Alex's good one. Alex laughs a bit, wrapping his good arm around Henry. "I'll be careful. I love you."

"I love you," Henry says, breathing in Alex's scent and reminding himself, over and over, that Alex is going to be okay.

"Should we go tell the others we're okay? The grown ups, I mean? Or... did... Amy's okay, right?"

"Amy's fine; she sewed you up on the way here. She's in the kitchen with Cash, Zahra, and Shaan."

"Dream team. We’ll be out of here before you know it, just wait and see.” 

Henry nods, pulling away, though he can't bring himself to get far. Alex pushes himself into a sitting position, then stands, though he needs to grab Henry as soon as he does. Henry holds him close until his breathing evens out and he straightens up with, "Sorry; stood up too fast. I just got a bit lightheaded; nothing to worry about."

"That's... probably the blood loss." Alex nods. 

"I... it's probably not worth putting on a shirt. Zahra and Cash have both seen me in less anyway."

"Amy would have to take it off to look at your shoulder again, and you might hurt yourself putting it on." Alex looks down at the sling holding his arm to his chest for a moment before starting to move, and after a few steps that seem just a bit too wobbly, Henry links their arms and guides him to the kitchen. He tries his best not to worry about how much Alex is leaning on him and knocks on the door frame when they reach their goal. Everyone looks up at once, and Alex waves a bit awkwardly. Zahra moves first, to give him a hug. It's short, and when she pulls back it's with a threat to make his scalp into a handbag if he does anything like that again, but she can't hide her relief. The others have careful hugs for him, too, and Amy sits him down so she can redo his bandages and ask him questions now that he's conscious. Henry stays glued to his side, offering him an arm to lean on and a hand to hold, doing anything he can to make sure Alex is okay. There's a chance he's being obnoxious, but it feels like Alex could disappear the moment he moves away, so he can't bring himself to get far. 

Zahra produces a burner phone from somewhere, and they agree that Henry should call home first, because they’ll have to talk strategy with President Mom. He calls Bea, and her voice shakes on the, “Hello?” 

"Bea? It's me. I'm okay."

“Hen? Oh, thank God. Mom, Mom, it’s Henry. I’m going to put it on speaker.” 

“Hi, Mom. We’re okay.” 

“Oh, Baby. We heard about what happened during dinner. I was so scared. How are you? And Alex? Are you safe?” 

“I’m fine. Alex stopped me from getting hurt, but he... he’s going to be okay, too. We’re at a safe house with Shaan and Zahra and our teams, and I’m going to look after him until he gets better.” 

“It’s good to hear your voice,” Bea says. “We... we’ve been worried here, and I’m going to give you the biggest hug when you come home.” 

“I love you guys. I think Alex is going to call his family, too, but I just wanted to talk and make sure you knew I was okay.” 

“We love you,” Bea says, “Try to get some rest if you can, okay? You sound tired.”

“I love you,” his mom adds, and Henry smiles. 

“I love you both. Tell Gran and Pip I’m alright if they ask? And tell Pez?” 

They agree, and after a few more promises that they’re safe, and he’ll let them know when there’s a plan, and that they all love each other, he’s hanging up. He's promised to call again as soon as he can talk for longer, but for now, he hands the phone to Alex, letting go of his hand so he can use it to call his family. Alex leans against him as he makes the call, nearly resting his head on Henry's shoulder. Henry can hear soft ringing from the other side, then June's voice.

"Hi, Bug," Alex says, and Henry can hear her relief. "We're fine. Henry's not hurt, and Amy got me patched up no problem... yeah, if she’s free... hi, Mom. We’re fine... I’m not sure; Z wants to talk to you next and she’ll know... we’re at a safe house... he’s right next to me, and he’s fine... I love you, too. So much. Tell Dad I’m okay? And Raf and the Hollerans?... I love you. Here’s Z.” 

He hands Zahra the phone, then reaches for Henry's hand again. 

"How are you feeling?" Henry asks, and he sighs. 

"It... it hurts. It hurts a lot; I didn't think getting shot would hurt this much. And I'm... I'm tired. Amy said she'd get painkillers, so hopefully with them, I'll be able to think."

"If you need to sleep, too, we can find a bedroom. I promised Bea I'd get some rest." Alex nods, not lifting his head from Henry's shoulder. 

After a moment, he says, "It just... I didn't think anything like this would happen. I mean, I knew it could, but I didn't think... I mean, it's Austin. It's home. I thought..."

He'd thought Texas would take care of them. Henry shifts so he can hug Alex, and Alex shifts so his face is buried in Henry's shoulder and he tries not to cry. His shoulder hurts, sure, but the pain goes even deeper than that. The fear and rejection are like the bullet: he'd always known they were a possibility, but they hurt more than he could have ever imagined. This is his hometown. They loved him when he was outed, when he was stripped bare and his soul showed to the world. They'd loved him for ages, but maybe he's used that love up. Maybe Texas, the Texas he's always loved, the one he's worked so hard to make reflect the state he knows it can be, has finally had enough. Maybe, just maybe, they don't love him anymore.

"I'm sorry this happened," Henry says softly, rubbing his back gently. "Maybe... maybe we shouldn't have looked into opening another youth shelter here, or--"

"Stop. This isn't your fault. I... a shelter here would be amazing. I want that as much as you do, if not more. It's just... it feels weird. It hurts. I thought... I thought Texas was better than this; I've fought so hard for a Texas that's better. And I... I'll be okay, but you always tell me that I should feel things and not bottle them up, and I think... I think I just need to be sad for awhile. Just to sort of process everything, you know? I... It's hard. Sorry."

"Don't be. I love you, and I'm proud of you, and I want you to take as much time as you need," Henry says softly, pressing a kiss to Alex's forehead. 

Alex mumbles an "I love you" into his shoulder, and after a bit, he says, "I think... can we take a nap? I... it hurts."

"Okay. Amy's here with some pills, so they should help, then we'll go nap." Alex moves his head to take the painkillers, then Henry helps him up and Amy leads them to the bedroom. Alex is leaning pretty heavily on Henry by the time they get upstairs, the painkiller and his shoulder both tiring him out. He's cuddly tired, though, and they're barely in bed when he nuzzles his face into Henry's neck and falls asleep.

"Amy? Do you... do we know what's happening? If he had anyone else working with him yet?"

"I think they're still interrogating him, but nothing yet. I'm sorry; I'll keep you updated."

"And he... Alex, I mean, he'll be okay?"

"I think so. He should be, but I'd still like to get him to a hospital. It's so close to the bone; if something's broken and heals wrong it'll be a much longer recovery."

Henry nods, thanking her and pulling Alex back onto his side as he starts to roll over. He nuzzles in closer, mumbling something unintelligible, and Henry feels his heart swell. Alex is here; he's okay. It's all going to be okay. Alex is drooling on the pillow, and Henry's not sure if the amount of love in his heart counts as something Texas can make bigger, but it certainly feels like there's more of it than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shoutout to my Science Friends for answering questions like "If I shoot a character in the back of the shoulder with a relatively small handgun, what would happen?", and a special shout out to the friend in the group chat who offered to ask her doctor dad at a family dinner. She's the real MVP of this fic.  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! I'm always taking prompts over there. And if you have research questions about a project you're working on that's great, too; I'm going into a career helping people make historically/scientifically accurate art and it's my favorite thing.


	3. Chapter 3

Henry's not sure how long they spend in bed. He knows he dozes, even as he tries to stay awake to make sure Alex doesn't roll over onto his bad shoulder. He's dozing when Cash comes in to wake him up with a gentle, "Henry? They've found the other man he was working with. The president is on her way, and we're hoping to move Alex to the hospital for some x-rays soon."

"It's... it's over?"

"It's over," Cash says, smiling. "Do you want to wake him up and tell him?" Henry nods. 

"We'll be down in a bit." Cash nods and goes to finish things up downstairs, and Henry starts to kiss Alex awake. After a moment, a half-asleep Alex starts to move his arm up to Henry's face. Henry tries to stop him, but he's not quick enough. Alex yelps in pain, pulling the arm back to his chest as Henry pulls him into a hug. He's trying his hardest not to cry, but he's clearly in pain as Henry rubs his back gently. 

"Hey, it's okay. It's all going to be okay. We can go to the hospital when you're ready, and they'll get you all fixed up. I know it hurts; I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you," Alex says, then, "It... it hurts. It hurts so bad. It hurts to move and breathe... It hurts."

"I know. I'm so sorry, Love. We... we can go to the hospital whenever you feel ready to get up," Henry says gently. He's not sure what else to say, and even less sure what will make it past the lump in his throat. It hurts to see Alex in so much pain, especially when it feels like it's all Henry's fault. Alex is hurt because of him, and that is nearly enough to make Henry cry. 

After a few more moments with his face buried in Henry's shoulder, Alex pulls back to ask, "I... we can go to a hospital? It's safe?"

"Cash said so. They... they've got all the bad guys. Your mom's on her way, probably with June, and I'm going to call home as soon as I can make sure it's okay to let them know."

"Another Texan succession plan, foiled," Alex mumbles, and Henry laughs, kissing his cheek.

"Do you feel alright to get up? It'll be going downstairs, then out to a van." Alex nods, and Henry helps him up, making sure he's steady. They make their way to the van, and Henry gets permission to call home, so he calls Bea and his mom, filling them in on everything that's happened. When they hang up, he calls Pez and fills him in, too. All the while, Alex rests on his shoulder, content to cling to Henry's arm with his good one and relax for a bit. 

He refuses a wheelchair when they get to the hospital, and he only leans on Henry a bit as they make their way inside. They're eventually separated as Alex is whisked off to x-rays, and someone insists on looking Henry over to make sure he's not hurt before they let him go wait in Alex's room. He gets there just as Amy is finishing her security sweep, and he pulls her aside to ask a question. She hesitates, checks with Zahra, and gives him permission. Henry pulls out his phone. 

Alex is back before too long, complaining about an uncomfortable x-ray blanket and that his sling is ugly, though Henry knows him well enough to be able to read the very real and entirely unrelated pain in his face. Ellen, June, and Leo are there before long, all with Texas-sized hugs for them both before Ellen's pulled into a conversation and Leo offers to get them dinner somewhere local. Alex names a place, and Henry recognizes it as the place they were supposed to meet Liam and Spencer for dinner. He hopes they're okay; hopes no one else was hurt. He hopes so badly that he and Alex didn't ruin anyone else's life.

"No one else was hurt. Amy got the first guy right away, and the second wasn't able to hurt anyone," June says, pulling him out of his head. He's alone with the Claremont-Diaz siblings now; Leo must have left to get food. Alex has let his unshakable facade drop just a bit, and Henry climbs into bed to cuddle him.

"How is it?" He asks, and Alex grimaces. 

"It hurts. They said it's fractured; I'll have to do physical therapy soon to make sure I don't lose range of motion. That'll hurt like hell, too, but at least it shouldn't take too long."

"I'm sorry. Thank you."

"Nothing to be sorry for; I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Zahra said we can have Twitter again, right?"

"That's right."

"Come here." He's got his good arm out for a selfie, and Henry puts his head on Alex's good shoulder, smiling slightly. Alex takes the selfies and goes immediately to Twitter with it, posting it under the caption "we lived bitch".

"People know that meme, right? Like they'll get that it's a meme?" He asks, and Henry nods, laughing a bit as he turns to press a kiss to the side of Alex's neck.

"Get a room," June mutters, and Alex glares at her.

"You and your partners are twice as gross. Besides, I'm hurt. I've been through something traumatic; I need the support. Emotionally."

"Fine; you win. I'm going to the bathroom. You're the worst; I'm glad you're safe, both of you. But Henry especially." 

Alex's indignation follows her out of the room. Henry quiets him down with gentle kisses along his neck, and eventually, the pain meds kick in for real, letting him finally relax. They both spend a bit of time answering texts and letting people they're okay, Alex especially, since most people Henry knows are in bed. He checks in with Liam and Spencer, and they're okay. They don't mind rescheduling dinner, so Alex plans that for a bit, then calls his dad on FaceTime. Oscar wants to talk to both of them, so Henry is holding the phone, his head on Alex's shoulder, when June comes back into the room to say, "Alex? I... I think you'll want to come see this. Keep Dad on; he'll want to see, too."

June takes the phone while Heny makes sure Alex can get up without hurting himself, and they follow her out of their room. They're at the end of the hall, and just to their right is a big window overlooking a park. When they look down, it's full of people. People waving rainbow and other pride flags, people holding hastily made signs that say things like "Austin Proud", "Get well soon, Austin loves you", or just "Austin ❤️'s Alex". Alex's hand goes to his mouth, and Henry hugs him from behind, careful not to bump his shoulder. Oscar says something, but June answers for them as they keep looking out over the crowd gathered in the golden hour sun. Wordlessly, Henry presses a kiss just below Alex's ear, then steps back to take a few pictures: one where Alex's face is visible in profile, a few tears on his cheeks and sheer awe and joy in his face, and a few of his silhouette, the crowd below visible in the background. 

When he gets back, Alex's voice is thick with emotion as he says, "They... I was right. They are good, and they... This is Texas. This is the state that raised me; this is the state I love. This is it right here, all sorts of people coming together to love one of our own."

"The guys who hurt you? They drove over from Louisiana," Henry says softly. Amy had texted him, offering him the opportunity to tell Alex face to face. Alex turns to stare at him for a moment, then starts to laugh a bit.

"Of course they were. Texas... Texas wouldn't do this to me. Not my Texas. No, this, right down there? That's my Texas."

Henry smiles, kissing him again and resting his head on Alex's as they look out on the crowd together. After a moment, he points to a cluster of people trying to make it through the crowd and asks, "Is that Leo? And his team?"

"I think so," Alex says, smiling. "Maybe... if the staff are okay with it, maybe we could eat out here. Have a little picnic. I don't think we'd bother anyone."

"Have your mom ask and I bet they'll let us." Alex laughs at that, and he doesn't wince after, and Henry calls that a massive win.

As Alex texts his mom and coordinates dinner, Henry adds the pictures he took to a thread with his second tweet post-shooting: "Hey y'all (did I use that right?), someone very close to me is in the hospital and feeling a bit betrayed by his hometown. Anything y'all can do about that, Austin?" It's already full of replies wishing Alex well, and sharing wonderful things that happened at Austin pride. Better yet, there are people saying they've donated to the Austin youth shelter, and they can't wait to see it open. Henry grins, closing the app and helping his boyfriend convince a nurse that, really, he'll heal faster if he can eat dinner looking out at all the support.

Later that night, when they've eaten their fill, Leo and his team unveil a mountain of get well cards and messages they'd been given on their dinner run. Alex reads them all, and he cries more than once before he eventually falls asleep covered in rainbows, glitter, and well-wishes. Henry takes another picture to add to the Twitter thread: "From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Y'all have shown us some Texas-sized love today, and I'm forever grateful."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick end, though there will be an epilogue! I'm getting that worked out and it'll be up soon. I just really wanted to get some of these scenes out into the world; Alex's love for/fear of rejection from Texas is something that really resonated with me and that I loved writing about.  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! I'm always taking prompts over there. And if you have research questions about a project you're working on that's great, too; I'm going into a career helping people make historically/scientifically accurate art and it's my favorite thing.


	4. Epilogue

The next year goes in stages. 

First, there's physical therapy, a stage of tears and frustration. Henry's there for every appointment, learning how he can help and doing whatever he can to comfort Alex. He starts holding Skype calls at all hours to avoid crossing an ocean while his boyfriend is healing, and he manages to stay in New York, helping Alex move his arm and making sure he doesn't push too hard. There are days when Alex can't move his arm at all without tears, and Henry is there to help him go as far as he can and to cuddle him afterwards. Those days are replaced by days where they're pushing to get the arm to shoulder height, and when Alex can consistently get it that high, they get ice cream. Alex complains that it's a stupid milestone to celebrate, but Henry won't hear it. They celebrate every little milestone until the end of Alex's physical therapy, when Henry treats him to a nice dinner out, and Alex thanks him for being there through everything with a home cooked meal the next night. 

Next, there's what Henry privately dubs the babysitting stage. It's the period between the sling coming off at the end of physical therapy and Alex being declared fully better, when Henry's job shifts from managing a charity to managing his tornado of a boyfriend, making sure Alex doesn't re-fracture his shoulder. Alex seems to believe he's fully healed the moment the sling comes off. He insists that he's totally capable of carrying an absurdly heavy backpack all day until he comes home with it slung over his good shoulder and can barely put it on the next day. Then he promises that it doesn't bother him with donors and congresspeople and senators pat his bad shoulder, until Henry presses a kiss to it that night and even that light of a touch nearly reduces him to tears. It's a terrifying few weeks of ice packs and massages, of worried check ups and ibuprofen before Henry helps him figure out what he can actually do, what he can do if he's not doing anything the next day, and when he needs to wear the sling to make sure other people leave him alone. The bad days get less and less frequent, though, and eventually, they get an all clear from his doctor. They celebrate with a movie night at the Brooklyn youth shelter, cuddled up and surrounded by kids they've helped together. 

The clean bill of health is followed by weeks apart. Almost as soon as Alex is deemed medically healthy, Henry is whisked back across the ocean to take care of all the things he's been putting off while Alex healed. It's debatably the hardest part of the year, when he's worried about Alex's shoulder and mental health and there's nothing he can do. Eventually, Christmas comes. Henry has a big Christmas Eve dinner with his whole family in London, a Christmas brunch with his mom and Bea, and he and Shaan are on a plane headed for DC long before his grandmother starts her speech. 

Alex and Zahra meet them at the airport, and Henry can hug Alex as hard as he wants, and Alex can hug back just as hard, and that in itself feels like a Christmas miracle. Alex shoves a mess of a Christmas jumper over Henry's head, and Henry laughs, overjoyed to be back together. Christmas with Alex's family is civil, and Henry sticks around after to help finalize plans for the Young Americans Gala. Pez and Bea fly over for the party, and though Henry does have to go back with them a few days later, he leaves with the confidence that Alex is doing okay. He'd spent far too much of the party bragging about how he'd saved James Bond's son, the prince of England, for Henry to be too worried.

It's just after Alex's birthday that the final phase of the year, the begging and planning, really starts. They're in bed together when Henry's fingers find the two puckered scars in Alex's shoulder, and he traces them gently, asking, "Alex, are you awake? What... have you thought at all about going back to Austin for pride this year?"

"That would be perfect."

-

And so, a little over two months later, Henry finds himself stepping off a plane into Alex's arms and the Texas summer heat. They're back. They're on a float again, but this time, it's not just them. Bea and June refused to let them go alone, and Nora and Pez refused to be left behind, so all six of them are here, piling into a van in a mess of rainbows and body glitter and Cash's sunscreen.

"You doing okay?" Henry asks Alex as they get a second, and Alex nods, rubbing his shoulder absently.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Great. We're back in Austin, and we get to go to pride with everyone; it's going to be great."

"It will be. We'll be okay, Alex. Promise."

Alex smiles, pulling Henry into a hug as they get downtown and the energy shifts. The parade meeting ground is hectic, but it's a contagiously electric energy, and Henry can feel the fear start to slowly drain out of them both. By the time they're on their float and moving, they're all a mess of massive grins and bigger cheers.

The parade itself is a blur, but a few things stand out. Henry sees two women with twin girls on their shoulders, one moving forward so her daughter can tip a drag queen. There are kids with pride flags painted on their faces showing their parents around, and there are queer people old enough to be their grandparents who get to celebrate like everyone else. But what stands out the most is the moment they approach the turn where everything fell apart last year. Alex tenses up a bit, and Henry moves closer to him on instinct. But then the others are there, too, crowding close as they turn the corner to see a sea of rainbow and be hit with a wall of cheers, accompanied by more signs than anywhere else on the route: "Austin strong, Austin proud!" "We love our first kids" "Alex I'm so f**king proud of you!" "Henry, Prince of my heart!"

Alex is crying as Henry hugs him, but he's laughing, too, and looking out over the crowd to be sure he doesn't miss a second of it. Henry sees Bea and June filming both sides of the street as Nora and Pez shout thank yous and throw pride flags into the crowd. Henry and Alex just soak it all in, holding each other and beaming into the crowd. Alex raises a fist, extending his pointer finger and pinky in a "hook 'em horns" salute, and Henry follows suit. The crowd cheers, mirroring them, and Alex whoops so loudly, Henry's sure it carries over to Louisiana just to spite anyone who might try to shut them up.

From the end of the parade route, it's a short walk to their last scheduled stop for the day. It's a gorgeous Victorian building in Central Austin, bought eleven months ago and newly renovated with the donations that flooded in after their catastrophe. They've got a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest Okonjo Foundation youth shelter, located close to public transit and the University of Texas campus, and incredibly near and dear to both their hearts. They cut the ribbon together, each holding one handle of the oversized scissors and throwing the doors open together to welcome the staff inside. If it's anything like the other shelters, they'll have kids there by that night, and they'll most likely come back to welcome them in person. 

Once the shelter's open, they and their friends get to just enjoy pride. They get sno cones and watch drag shows, and they meet up with Liam and Spencer for a bit, and really, it matters less what they do and more that they're doing it at all, surrounded by people who are celebrating their love. 

Over dinner at Alex’s favorite Austin restaurant, they all curate instagram posts together. Henry has a few photos of himself and Alex at the ribbon cutting, captioned with a paragraph about how he's so proud of Alex, the foundation, and the city of Austin and how thankful he is to be able to be a part of something like this. Nora's got one of herself, June, and Pez, lipstick stains on both her cheeks, and Pez has one of the three of them sharing a massive rainbow sno cone and sticking out tongues dyed various different colors. June's post is a photo of herself and Alex, a caption about how she's infinitely proud of him and overjoyed to be celebrating in their hometown, and Bea has a similar post about Henry and how proud she is of him, accompanied by a photo of them together in front of the youth shelter. 

Alex's post takes the longest, but eventually, he settles on a photo of himself and Henry from behind, "Hook 'em Horns" raised to an overjoyed crowd. It's followed by Bea's and June's videos of the crowd along that stretch and captioned, "a massive, Texas-sized thank you, Austin! Thank you for standing up to hate, and staying loud and proud, and for helping make a hard memory a million times better. Y'all have shown me and my family so much love, and I can't imagine a better city to come home to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! I did it! Now I need to do actual Real Life Work (research into queer history) for like a week, but I've got a few requests to finish up once that's done!  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! I'm always taking prompts over there. And if you have research questions about a project you're working on that's great, too; I'm going into a career helping people make historically/scientifically accurate art and it's my favorite thing.


End file.
